Expert: D. Norkus - 1/3/2007

Question
Hello,
I'm currently a sophmore college student, and like most college students, I can't decide if what I'm studying is what I want to be doing.

I've read many of your answers to previous questions, and know about the required hours, medical exams, costs and colleges to ultimately become an airline pilot, but I still have a few questions.

Is an airline college (I'm looking at http://www.miat.edu/) similar to that of a "tradition" college?  As in, is is just as "legit"?  Can I get financial aid and deferred student loans just I currently get?  When you go to an aviation college, are you just studying books, or are you getting actual flying?  What licenses do you have when you graduate?

After college, what are the immediate career opportunities, and roughly with what salaries?

Studying to be a pilot is very expensive...is it something that people normally do "on the side" of their day job?  After graduation, can I live off the money I get as a pilot, or will I need another job to help out?

Ultimately, what other options are there if I don't want to be a big-airliner passenger pilot?  I've looked at private business pilot (flying the businessmen in the Learjet, hehe), freight and cargo flight, bush pilot, charter, etc.  What kind of salaries can I expect if I don't want to go with a big passenger airliner?  What's my "cap" if I don't want to go that route?

Is devoting all my time to a career in aviation risky or pretty safe?  I mean both in physical safety, and job safety.  Will I always be living in fear of loosing my job as a pilot?  Can I depend on it for many years?  How many fatal pilot accidents are there?  Would you say the being a pilot is a safe job?

Thank you so much for reading my long questions, and thank you in advance for you answer.  Your dedication to helping all of us is very much appreciated.

Answer
Jesse,

Yes, as long as they are accredited an aviation university is just as "legit" as any other school. You can find a list of schools at the University Aviation Association website if you want more choices-

http://www.UAA.aero

When you go to an av university as a pilot major (Aerospace Science), in addition to your general ed you would study the ground school coursework and related subjects like meteorology or aviation law. You should also be flying while you attend. Most schools graduate you with at least your PPL, instrument and Commercial but you may also have your CFI certificates. When I did my degree program, I had already done my flying outside school so I only took academics. Other students who did their flying and academics   
graduated with about 300 flight hours. Not a whole lot. This will limit your job opportunities. If you get your CFI during college, it will be a whole lot easier to build time. (Of course a heavy course load could make instructing difficult to impossible while in school.)

Sorry, I can't advise on financial aid. You should contact the school about that topic. Some schools even have scholarships given by alumni for which you may qualify.   

With only 300 hours, you will be limited to jobs like flight instructor, banner tow, skydive pilot or traffic reporting- and that is if you meet the minimum time for the operators insurance. Some operators who hire in "low timers" now require about double that time just to be insurable. Read my website for more info about low time jobs and time building-

http://www.geocities.com/av8trxx99/FAQ.html

All that said, you DO NOT need a degree in aviation to become a pilot. In fact, many suggest getting your degree in another subject in case you are ever laid off or lose your medical you will have something to fall back on to get another job. Read more on that thought at this link-

http://www.jetcareers.com/content/view/22/44/

True, becoming a pilot is not cheap. The least you could get away with these days is about $40K for flight only. Could you live off one of these jobs you get with 300TT? Probably not unless you are a very busy CFI or have a lot of roomates. When I was flying skydivers, it paid $5 per flight. Some days there were 10 flights, others there were two. (Yes, I had another job.) To see examples of pay, compare the various pilot jobs at this link-

http://www.aviationcareerguide.com/aviation_salaries.asp

As far as the various pilot careers outside the airlines, I suggest review the list of descriptions at this page. It also lists salaries. I can't comment on the pay "cap" in other flying positions as I am strictly airline, but the link will give you an idea-

http://www.avscholars.com/AvScholars/Channels/Careers/pilots.htm

Here is another good pay example-
http://www.avjobs.com/salaries-wages-pay/index.asp

As far as a "risky" career, yes there will always be the possibility of a low point in the industry where you could get laid off/furloughed. Every 15-20 years that seems to happen in the airlines. Only the lowest in tenure at an airline are affected, so if you are hired at the right time you won't be affected.  Some pilots never experience a furlough while other have had it happen 2 or 3 times in their career. It really is a crap shoot. When I was first hired as an airline pilot, I was barely out of training when I was furloughed. It lasted just over two years. I hope that will be my one and only furlough during my career but I am aware that it could happen again if I were to start over as a new hire with a different carrier and the industry were to tank again. It's just a fact of life in this business.

As far as physical safety, the airline environment is one of the safest. I have no doubt about that. If you are interested, you can get some concrete figures on fatal accident rates via this link- http://aviation-safety.net

Hope this helps,
Dottie